BrightStim Self-Administration Manual
Epworth Centre for Innovation in Mental Health (ECIMH)
Simplified Treatment Checklist
Guidelines for Treatment
During treatment, you want your brain activity to be ‘neutral’, meaning you want to be relaxed but alert. It is important that you do not participate in any activities that require mental effort as this can prevent the treatment from having long-lasting effects on your memory and thinking abilities.
Acceptable activities | Why? |
Sitting / laying down | It doesn’t require mental effort |
Light TV/podcast | It doesn’t require mental effort |
Activities to avoid | Why? |
Drinking coffee/tea before treatment | Coffee stimulates the brain, interfering with the effects of tACS |
Reading | It may activate parts of the brain we are targeting. |
Using the computer or mobile phone | It may activate parts of the brain we are targeting. |
Talking to people for extensive periods of time | It may activate parts of the brain we are targeting. |
Physical activity (e.g. gardening, cleaning) | It may activate different parts of the brain we are targeting and impact hormonal changes. |
Sleeping / Meditating | It lowers brain activity to a minimal level which may counteract the stimulation’s effect. |
Equipment Descriptions
The BrightStim home-kit includes the headset, yellow sponges, two electrodes connected to leads, Brightstim device, kidney dish, alcohol swabs, bottled saline, needleless syringe and a clear plastic container. Each item is important for a different stage of treatment which is outlined in the step-by-step user-manual.
Headset: | Used to secure the electrodes in the correct location and ensures that the electrodes are in close contact with your scalp for optimal brain stimulation. | |
Yellow sponges: | Used to connect the rubber electrodes to the Bright-Stim device. | |
Rubber electrodes connected to leads: | Used to deliver the stimulation produced by the Bright-Stim device. | |
Brightstim device: | Produces the stimulation | |
Kidney dish: | Used to organise and hold required materials for stimulation so that they are in one location for easy access and use. | |
Alcohol swabs: | Can be used to clean the electrodes and equipment after treatment | |
Saline: | Used to dampen the sponges so that they become soft and increase electrical conductivity of electrodes. | |
Needleless syringe: | Used to extract saline from inside the saline bottle. | |
Clear plastic container: | Used to collect saline in order to extract with the needleless syringe |
BrightStim Device Button Diagram
Power button: Press to turn device on. Red light indicates device is on. | ||
Start Stimulation: Flashing green light indicates device is ready for treatment. Continuous green light indicates treatment is being conducted. | Pause Stimulation: Yellow light indicates treatment is paused. | |
Check Headset: Red light indicates poor connection between electrodes and device. | Treatment already conducted today: Red light indicates daily limit of treatment has been achieved and no more treatments can be performed. | |
Return for service: Red light indicates low battery or functional issue - contact the study coordinator. |
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BrightStim Self Administration User Manual Instructions | ||||||||
Prepare Home Environment | ||||||||
Place your BrightStim Kit on a table in a quiet and well-ventilated area of the house where you can be seated and unoccupied for approximately 40 minutes. | ||||||||
Open your BrightStim Kit and check that none of the items listed on the inventory list are missing. Items are pictured below: | ||||||||
Headset | Rubber electrodes connected to leads | Brightstim device | Kidney dish | |||||
Alcohol swabs | Yellow sponges Saline | Needleless syringe | Clear plastic container | |||||
Preparation of the Headset | ||||||||
Check the electrodes and electrode cables for signs of wear and tear. Please note: If equipment is damaged, contact the study coordinator and do not proceed with treatment.
Electrode Damage
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Prepare the sponges: Figure 3.1
Figure 4.1
Figure 4.3 Figure 4.2 6mL
Please note: Ensure that the saline covers the dry areas of the sponge on each side. | ||||||||
Place Sponges:
Figure 5.1 Figure 5.2
Figure 5.3
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Insert Electrodes:
Figure 6.1
Figure 6.2
*DO NOT put the electrodes under the white clips as this could impair stimulation/damage electrodes. Electrodes may fall out of the sponges from time to time. STILL do not clip down the electrodes.
Figure 6.3
Figure 6.4 | ||||||||
Applying the Headset | ||||||||
* Any metal may cause problems with stimulation conductivity and potentially cause painful sensations to the scalp.
Figure 7.2 Figure 7.1
Figure 7.3
Figure 7.4
* To make sure that rubbing has not displaced the cap, recheck the instructions in step (d).
Figure 7.5 | ||||||||
Connecting the Device | ||||||||
Place the BrightStim device and GREY connector cord next to each-other and ensure the connecting parts are properly aligned before putting together (Figure 8.1). Figure 8.1
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Begin Treatment | ||||||||
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During Stimulation | ||||||||
If at any time, you need to stop the stimulation, press the yellow ‘Pause stimulation’ button. Stimulation will stop immediately, and the green ‘Start Stimulation’ button will begin to flash. Please note: Device will begin to power down automatically if paused for longer than 2 minutes.
To resume stimulation, press the green ‘start stimulation’ button. The device enables 20 to 40 minutes of treatment per day. If the device is paused, when resumed it will deliver the remaining treatment allowance for that day. | ||||||||
System error | ||||||||
The ‘Check headset’ light will light up. SOLUTIONS: There are three things you can do to improve the electrode to scalp connection.
*Please note on your self-report form if you add more saline. *Ensure that the sponges are not too saturated that the saline is leaving the sponge. If this happens you could be connecting electrode to electrode, not electrode to scalp, in which case the treatment is not reaching your brain. Figure 12.1
Figure 12.2 Once you have completed these steps, undertake steps 9-10 again to begin treatment. Please note: If the ‘check headset’ lights up again, contact the study coordinator (contact details are provided on the last page of this user-manual) | ||||||||
After Stimulation | ||||||||
Automatic device shut-down: The device will turn off automatically following the completion of treatment:
turn the device off at the power button. Forced device shut-down: Please note: ONLY turn device off if it is absolutely necessary
Please note: The device enables up to 60 minutes of treatment per day. If the device turns off after stimulation has been paused, follow steps 9-10 to resume the remaining time allocated for your daily treatment. | ||||||||
Remove Equipment | ||||||||
Figure 14.1
Figure 14.2
Figure 14.3
Figure 14.4 | ||||||||
Equipment Cleaning | ||||||||
Figure 15.1
*DO NOT put water on the electrodes. Do not put under the tap or soak. Figure 15.2
Figure 15.3 | ||||||||
Packing Up | ||||||||
(Figure 16.1). Figure 16.1
Figure 16.2
Figure 16.3
Figure 16.4 | ||||||||
Contact Details
In the event that you should experience any difficulties using this kit, please refer to the following contact details of project coordinators who can assist:
Ms Prabhavi Perera
Study Coordinator
Epworth Centre for Innovation in Mental Health (ECIMH)
Phone: (03) 9805 4163
Email: magelage.perera@monash.edu
If you cannot get in contact with Ms Prabhavi Perera, you can contact:
Dr Sally Herring
Research Manager and Study Co-investigator
Epworth Centre for Innovation in Mental Health (ECIMH)
Phone: (03) 9805 4126
Email: sally.herring@epworth.org.au
Dr Neil Bailey
Post-Doctoral Fellow and Study Co-investigator
Epworth Centre for Innovation in Mental Health (ECIMH)
Phone: (03) 9805 4367
Email: neil.bailey@monash.edu